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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, the notes were full, and now it is time for you to post until the cows come home - they're currently eating penne moolognese.

[bk]

And the word of the day is: LEGERITY!

[bk]

Welcome ten GUESTS.

[DERBRUCER]

TOD

CD Last Starfighter - for a more critical listen

der Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

For DearReaderLaura:

Adirondacks



Catskills



Vermont



Arizona - whoda thunk

der Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

LATIMES

SMOKING IN MOVIES ROOTED IN STUDIO-ERA DEALS

11:35 AM, September 25, 2008

The Hollywood A-listers of the 1930s and 1940s helped pave the way for smoking in the movies that continues today, according to a study of endorsement contracts between the studios and tobacco companies and advertisements from that era.

Researchers at Stanford and at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UC San Francisco examined records from the UCSF Legacy Tobacco Documents Library and the Jackler advertising collection at Stanford. During the '30s and '40s, two-thirds of the top 50 box office stars in Hollywood endorsed tobacco brands for advertising purposes and were paid a lot to do so, the study found. In return for the paid testimonials of their stars, the major studies benefited from ads for their movies in lucrative "cross over" deals, paid for by the tobacco companies, the research shows. Actors Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey, Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Bette Davis and Betty Grable all appeared in advertisements for such brands as Lucky Strike, Old Gold, Chesterfield and Camel.
...

der Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

For Jane:

BEST FRIENDS

"What I learned at Best Friends."

There’s nothing like a friend. And Bailey was definitely the kind of girl who needed one. Years ago, Bailey the dog was abandoned at a Dumpster in the middle of nowhere with some of her siblings. Thank goodness somebody found them. Yet, by the time they came to Best Friends, Bailey had already formed her opinion about people: They weren’t for her.
 
Then along came Beau. Beau had been rescued from Hurricane Katrina, and he loved hanging out with people. And while Bailey might have thought Beau’s enthusiasm for humans was a little weird, she let it slide. They hit it off right from the beginning. Before long, though, something interesting started to happen. Caregivers noticed Bailey was not so standoffish toward them anymore. You see, Bailey would watch from the sidelines while Beau had fun with his caregivers. She got curious.

She liked Beau, she trusted him. Why was he so smitten with humans? She had to find out for herself. Bailey began allowing contact bit by bit. Strictly for scientific research, of course. She’d join Beau on leash walks and everything. But before she knew what was happening, Bailey forgot all about the scientific approach and started having a blast! After enough time had passed, Bailey decided that people were not so scary after all. She may always be a bit shy with new faces, but she’s learned how to warm up quickly.

For Bailey, her own happy ending finally came. A family from Las Vegas found Bailey and fell in love with her. They’ve decided to adopt! As for Beau, the dog who helped her overcome her fears, he must be allowed to gloat just a bit. It’s easy to imagine him grinning and saying with a wink, "Told you they weren’t so bad!"

Congrats, Bailey! And Beau, thanks for all your help. Your day will come soon.

Story by David Dickson
Photo of Bailey (left) and Beau (right) by Sarah Ause

der Brucer

Note: Comments on the site express displeasure that the dogs were separated

[DERBRUCER]

FOX411

HARRY POTTER GETS NAKED, HORSES AROUND
...

In the audience were Glenn Close, George Segal, Kathleen Turner, and a few theater people. One of them was famous 94 year old playwright Budd Schulberg, author of On the Waterfront, A Face in the Crowd, What Makes Sammy Run among other works. The white haired Schulberg walks with a cane but still somehow managed to get down a steep flight of stairs at the Broadhurst Theater at intermission, looking for a set of infrared headphones so he could hear the show better.

It wasn’t so easy. The kid running the kiosk demanded Schulberg’s picture I.D. or driver’s license. Schulberg, who was coughing — probably from the walk — said, "I don’t drive." The kid then made his cohort accompany Schulberg to his seat to get I.D. When that kid was told who Schulberg was, he responded, "My company doesn’t care."

As Cindy Adams, who covered the press line, would say, "Only in New York, kids, Only in New York."
...

der Brucer

[singdaw]

Whew!  Am I glad it's no longer Thursday and we're allowed to RANT again!        

[S. Woody White]

And the word of the day is: LEGERITY!

Heather Mills was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars because she was convinced of her own LEGERITY.

[S. Woody White]

Der Brucer isn't the only one who can find interesting tidbits on the Internet.

The following letter comes directly from PETA's website:

September 23, 2008


Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Cofounders
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.


Dear Mr. Cohen and Mr. Greenfield,


On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I'd like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry's. Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers--and cows--would reap the benefits.


Using cow's milk for your ice cream is a hazard to your customer's health. Dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies, constipation, obesity, and prostate and ovarian cancer. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it may play a role in anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease--America's number one cause of death.


Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.


And of course, the veal industry could not survive without the dairy industry. Because male calves can't produce milk, dairy farmers take them from their mothers immediately after birth and sell them to veal farms, where they endure 14 to17 weeks of torment chained inside a crate so small that they can't even turn around.


The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Thank you for your consideration.


Sincerely,


Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President

WOW!!!  What an amazing idea!!!

But I think Ms. Reiman has left out an important point - just think of all the welfare mothers to whom this could give gainful employment!  And, once their milk runs out, as would their employment checks, they could instead go on welfare to cover the months before they start producing again!  

My only question is whether the milk would have the same creamy mouth-feel as that to which we've become accustomed.




   

[S. Woody White]

TOD:

DVDs:

To Be or Not To Be, with Jack Benny playing a different character and proving that yes, he can act.  Thanks to all who participated in that earlier conversation for piquing my interest.

Torchwood, Series Two, which I think was much better than Series One.

BOOK:

Stand Facing the Stove, by Anne Mendelson, who earns bonus points by me for pointing out that Edgar Rombauer, whose suicide repurposed wife Irma's life and led to her writing The Joy of Cooking, was probably manic-depressive, instead of trying to find external causes for his death.  (Now there's a joyful way to start the day, what?)

[S. Woody White]

Workies.

[Ben]

Morning all. It's a rainy Friday here in New York. It's supposed to rain off and on all weekend which means I may stay in most of the weekend. I have to re-tape Part 2 of the Warner Brothers documentary shown on PBS this past week because Part 2 was shown on Wednesday and the schedule was thrown off by somebody who apparently made a speech while I was at the theatre. The time was skewed and I missed the last 10 minutes. It's being re-broadcast tomorrow and I will try to tape it again.

[Ben]

I'm glad my dear friend Larry enjoyed Tale of Two Cities.

We agree on the music. It's forgettable and some of the lyrics are awful.

I, however, was not taken so much by the book. The whole thing, for me, just plodded along. A story interrupted by bad songs and power ballad singing. There are some very good voices on stage but Mr. Barbour is rather over the top and every so often (especially at the end) his efforts to channel Ronald Coleman were not as successful as he (or the director) may have thought.

The story is a powerful and moving retelling of the French fight against the aristocracy but the musical was missing much of that power. It was just (for me) a series of trucks with different sets. Here's London. Now let's have some cages and go to the Bastille. Ok, now let's put on a different set truck and welcome to the Defarge's. It just didn't work for me.

It is being very enthusiastically received. Not that a standing ovation means ANYTHING nowadays but people were on their feet cheering and screaming at the curtain call. The producers have some deep pockets, according to Michael Riedel, and want to keep it running in an effort to build up an audience so it may be around for a while. Now that Les Miz is gone this may fulfill the wishes of those looking for 80s style epic faux British musicals. More power to them.

[Ben]

I am, however, an unabashed TOSser (Title of Show). I finally got around to seeing the Broadway transfer last night (I had seen it at the Vineyard) and fell in love all over again. Yes, it's got some obscure references and yes, the meta-musical aspect can be confusing to some but I love it! It's not perfect but it took my heart. There are two beautiful songs which have been moved to different places in the show. In fact, I asked my friend who had seen the Vineyard production also if A Way Back to When was new because I didn't remember it so much in the first production. It was there (I checked the Off-Broadway CD when I got home). It was just in a different place in the show. Now it hits home so much and moved me greatly. The audience loved it and was clapping and cheering. I, however, just sat there basking in the memories and beauty of what it was saying. It took me back to my bedroom, at 17 years old, with my crappy little record playing, playing Company over and over again. And then we have 9 People's Favorite Things which is one of my new favorite songs. I'm not comparing this to Sunday in the Park in a Pulitzer prize kind of way, but the shows have much in common in the idea of living your art and creating and living your dream. I left the theatre floating.

I'm not surprised it's closing but I'm so glad I saw it. I will try to see it again before it closes, that's how much I enjoy it.

[Ben]

And now I'm off to New Orleans (the community foundation).

[Jrand73]

Friday and yes it is a work day for me as well.....oh well.

TOD:

DVD - a Bomba the Jungle Boy Double Triple Feature, I am also making copies for DR MBARNUM as he sent me a Bomba movie a couple of years ago....I found some more...and he will get them whether he wants them or not.  And it includes Bantu the Zebra Boy - the TV pilot produced by Johnny Sheffield's father.

CD - Karmic Meditation.......

[Jrand73]

Off to work....

[FJL]

Der B - Hmmm, definitions of "critical"

marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws; "a critical attitude"

at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction; "a critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure"; "critical mass"; "go critical"

characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; "a critical reading"; "a critical dissertation"; "a critical analysis of Melville's writings"

urgently needed; absolutely necessary; "a critical element of the plan"; "critical medical supplies"; "vital for a healthy society"; "of vital interest"

forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis; "a critical point in the campaign"; "the critical test"

being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; "a critical shortage of food"


There is an emergency of amazonian, er, amazing proportions at hand, so I hope that's the definition of "critical" you mean

[elmore3003]

Good morning, all! I am meeting this morning one of the Miami University librarians who was of major assistance in taking my collection for the University. It will be nice to sit in the Edison coffee shop and have a visit, although the rain pouring outside my window makes me very reluctant to step out.

DR Ben, I probasbly would have felt harsher about TWO CITIES if I hadn't had several friends involved, from set designer to cast. I think I will drag out the BBC 1989 DVD Revolution bicentennial dramatization with the French-British cast and rewatch it. I like James Wilby as Darnay and my memory is that Jean Pierre Aumont is Dr Manette.

TOD:
   DVD:  Madame Bovary (Francesca Annis), In Bruges, A Tale of Two Cities,
      BBC Shakespeare Henry IV, 1 & 2, Henry V
   CD: Boswell Sisters, Offenbach's Christopher Columbus, Guy Haines, Dorothy Provine
   VCR: Ugly Betty (what a surprise!)

[FJL]

Ben - This is not a comment on your analysis, but related to ATO2C comments on other chat boards, but if you have nay thoughts on this, they'd be appreciated -

Isn't is to a show's book's (and director's) credit that the show manages to  preserve the emotional resonance of its source material?  There are so many adaptations where the story has not been well-told, and where the resonance of the source material was lost, so I question those people on other chat boards who say "Well, the story was great to begin with."

[FJL]

I meant "any thoughts" not "nay thoughts"  

But that took so long to post that I didn't want to edit

[Ginny]

Friday morning greetings!  Today's an information-waitressing day for me - I have fewer than a dozen of these left!

[DERBRUCER]

Der B - Hmmm, definitions of "critical"

characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; "a critical reading"; "a critical dissertation"; "a critical analysis of Melville's writings"
...

being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; "a critical shortage of food"


There is an emergency of amazonian, er, amazing proportions at hand, so I hope that's the definition of "critical" you mean

Yeah - I'm prepping for a critical review; I need a more detailed listen to highlight some points. I think I understand why somepeople may be dissappointed in the CD and I need to find just the right words to express my appreciation.

In brief (but not yet properly "coined") -  

A big brassy Broadway show it ain't - no Les Miz here. Some might say it is "thin" where it is, in fact, whimsical. And this is as it should be. The film was not a special effects Sci-Fi blockbuster, it was a charming telling of a modern fairy tale; and the CD follows this lead. The CD will not transport you to the Winter Garden for a grand perfomance of West Side Story; rather you are taken to the Sullivan Street theater for The Fantastics, or to the Theatre Lotal for a Nine, or, at best, the Music Box for a Godspell. The hearer will not be WOWED, he will be CHARMED. Here we find more beguiling enchantment than epic excitement.

der Brucer

PD I will not comment on the fart/heart rhyme

The real gems. like Love is Like Water take careful listening

[singdaw]

I have read elsewhere on The Internets that, despite what IHOP says, today is:

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY!!!!!!  

[Ginny]

Good morning, all! I am meeting this morning one of the Miami University librarians who was of major assistance in taking my collection for the University....

Hmmm - anyone I know?  Say HI, just in case.

[singdaw]

Charlie's Angels, 2008 style...

_{photo:    Bedbugs!}

[Dan (the Man)]

Hmmm--still on page one?

Well, with the nasty, cold and rainy weather we are having in Philly, it's a sort of still-on-page-one kind of day...

[Dan (the Man)]

Maybe if I go get a second cup of coffee, I can muster up the effort to push us to...